See You In Santa Fe
by toocool4school
Summary: Jack leaves for Santa Fe- How will his boys take it? What awaits Jack in New Mexico? And what happens when one of the boys make a promise to Jack they can't break?


H'lo! My name is Emma and this is my first fanfic ( please R&R- I love reviews they make me happy. I want to know what you guys think! A few notes on my story~ I don't own anything, so don't sue me please, I'm poor. :-P Secondly, this may sound like slash at some points, but it's not. The way I view it the boys have a kind of brotherly relationship. So thanks for reading and I really hope you like it!!! –Emma  
  
Racetrack POV  
  
Jack Kelly was never the type of person to stay in one place for too long. He couldn't stand sellin' papes in the same place 2 days in a row, and we always joked about how he'd never make it in school on acount'a he wouldn't be able to sit still for that long. So when we woke up one morning and all we found was a note that read 'Gone to Santa Fe', you would have thought we wouldn't be surprised. After all, Jack had been talkin' about leavin' for Santa Fe for, well, as long as I'd known him. We shouldn'ta been surprised at all. But we were. We were shocked and scared as hell.  
  
Mush was the first one up that day. He is the one who found the note. No one really knows what happened since he was the only one up at the time, but we just figured he found the note, and was so shocked he just went into the bathroom and sat down against the wall. When we got up, that's how we found him, a crumbled up note in his hand. He seemed really out of it. I took the note outta his hand and read it.  
  
"What's it say? Race? Whatsa matta' wit Mush?" I heard the boys talking but I couldn't really respond. Jack...gone? It can't be, I thought. Why... when? Why the hell would he...  
  
I finally pulled myself together enough to read the note. "It's from Jack," I mumbled. I looked up at the boys' faces sadly. "Gone to Santa Fe."  
  
The boys were silent for a few seconds. Then Skittery spoke out. "I- I can't believe this... Jack? No way... He'll be back. That kid'll be comin' back here sooner than you can say street rat..." He started shaking his head in disbelief.  
  
"Come on man," Kid Blink said to Mush. "You're okay. You're okay. Come on."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay, I'm okay. Whatsa matta' wit alla youse? Come on, let's go! We got papes ta sell! This ain't no off day or nuttin'!" Mush pushed past us.  
  
"Mush come on, what we gonna do 'bout Jack?" I said, taking charge.  
  
Mush stopped in his tracks and turned around. "We ain't gonna do nothin' 'bout Jack, ya hear? We ain't gonna do nothin'! Jack's gone and ain't no one can stop him. He's made up his mind and he ain't goin' back on it. Give it up." We all stared at him. This wasn't Mush at all. He was negative and bitter. Everything was messed up.  
  
None of us said anything for awhile. What could we say? Mush was right. Jack was gone and there was nothing any of us could do about it. We just had to move on. And lemmy tell ya...  
  
Moving on is the hardest thing to do.  
  
Mush POV  
  
I woke up in the middle of this night to a strange noise. At first I thought it was some kind of animal or something. I looked over at the bunk next to me... Snipeshooter was fast asleep. I crawled out of bed and looked on top of my bunk- Jack's bunk. He was sitting there, his back to me, his legs dangling over the side.  
  
"Jack. Hey Jack. You hear dat?" I whispered.  
  
Jack didn't say anything. It was then that I realized what the noise was. Jack was crying. Jack Kelly, big tough leader of the Manhattan newsboys. The guy who had fought the biggest, baddest guys and won, the guy who had led the 1899 strike against one of the most important men in all the city, the guy who had outrun a million bulls, and had escaped from the Refuge, was crying.  
  
I couldn't believe it. Jack... crying? Impossible. "Jack? Whatsa matta' wit ya?"  
  
Jack turned his head slightly toward me, his back still facing me. "Ise leavin' Mush." I could tell he'd been crying. I could hear it in his voice.  
  
"Leavin'? Where ya goin?"  
  
Jack hopped off the top bunk and turned to face me. "I'm leavin'. I'm goin' ta Santa Fe." He grabbed a pillowcase full of some things and started walking out of the Lodging House.  
  
I didn't know what to do. I couldn't let Jack just walk right out of there... out of our lives. "Jack!" I said a little too loudly.  
  
Jack turned around, ran back to me, and put his finger up to his mouth. "Shh! What ya tryin' ta do, wake everybody up?" His face softened and he put his hand on my shoulder. "Mush, we'll see each other again. All of us. Okay? We will. I promise. Someday we will." He sighed heavily. "Bye, Mush." He playfully patted the top of my head before he walked out.  
  
I wasn't giving up that easily though. I was confused... I needed answers. I followed him downstairs and out of the Lodging House. "Hey Cowboy, wait up! Please wait a second. Come on man!"  
  
Jack didn't turn around and he didn't stop walking. I just kept following him, shouting things to him, for him to stop, things like that. I followed him for a couple of blocks, eventually stopping with the yelling. He knew I was still following him, though, because every once and awhile he'd glance back at me. We kept walking fast until we reached a large building. I'd never been there before, but I knew where we were. The train yards.  
  
Jack turned around when we reached the trains. "I can't believe you followed me all the way here, street rat." Jack smiled. And I tried my best to smile back at him.  
  
"So... you're really leavin' huh? It's kinda hard ta... ya know, think about. I can't pitcha life heah wit out ya, Cowboy."  
  
"Well, I guess ya gotta. You'll get used ta it, though. Ya will. You'll start ta live life just as if I hadn't even been there... And then one day youse will jus forget about me entirely."  
  
"No, we never would Jack. Never."  
  
He smirked. "I gotta go, Mushy. Ya gotta promise me somethin' though. Don't let da guys try ta come afta me or nuttin, all right? Just keep 'em livin'... Jus make 'em keep livin'..."  
  
"I will Jack. Hey. I'll see you man." Tears started to form in my eyes.  
  
"I'll see ya Mush. I'll see ya." He got on the train and tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched it disappear into the horizon. 


End file.
